AEW Dynamite Results, Winners, Live Grades and Highlights Before Dynasty 2025

The April 2 edition of AEW Dynamite at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois was the final stop for All Elite Wrestling before Sunday's Dynasty.

Just days before their battle for the AEW World Championship, Jon Moxley and Swerve Strickland clashed in a mixed tag team match that also featured Marina Shafir and Willow Nightingale.

Claudio Catagnoli clashed with Cope in singles action to weaken The Rated R Superstar before Rated FTR challenged The Death Riders for the Trios Championships.

Penelope Ford hoped to soften up women's world champion Toni Storm before she went one-on-one with Megan Bayne at Dynasty.

AEW promised to unveil the men's and women's brackets for a stacked Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, and one of the competitors, Will Ospreay, returned to stake his claim for the opportunity.

What would happen to fill out an already exciting card for Dynasty? Would AEW deliver some shocking moments with the road to All In on the horizon? Find out with this review of Wednesday's Dynamite.

Tornado: Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir vs. Swerve Strickland and Willow Nightingale

The show started with a fight as Willow Nightingale and Swerve Strickland met Marina Shafir and Jon Moxley around the ring.

They brawled until Willow took out Moxley and planted Shafir with a Babe Bomb for the win.

Afterward, Moxley laid out Willow with a Paradigm Shift. Officials needed to help her to the back after checking her neck.

This was an awesome opener, showing the value of intergender wrestling that AEW has left untapped so far. Willow was the star of the match and picked up a huge win.

The AEW world champion made Willow look unstoppable to the point that he had to take a cheap shot at her after the match to take her down.

Shafir's inexperience was obvious in stretches of this match, but it hardly took away from the action. Willow helped her through some messier spots.

It showed the value in letting her work with the top stars of the women's division, allowing her to learn with those who can cover for her.

AEW should at least consider more mixed tag action in the future because this was delightful. It also kept plenty back for Mox and Swerve to deliver at Dynasty.

Result

Willow and Swerve def. Shafir and Moxley by pinfall.

Grade

A

Notable Moments

—Willow danced briefly with Nana before fist-bumping Swerve as they headed straight into a brawl.

—Moxley teased hitting a Paradigm Shift on Willow, but Swerve grabbed Shafir for a JML Driver. Despite Shafir telling him to still hit Willow, Mox backed off.

—Moxley set up a table early at ringside that Shafir later sent Willow through.

—The Death Riders both dug their nails in on Swerve's back in the corner, but Willow slipped under and powerbombed everyone.

—Swerve called for the House Call on Mox, but Shafir took it for him. Willow then pounced Mox out of the ring to set up the finish.

Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Bracket Reveal

The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament brackets were revealed for the men and the women.

On the men's side, Kevin Knight took Jay White's spot in the first round against Will Ospreay after The Death Riders attacked The Switchblade.

A wild-card entrant will fight "Hangman" Adam Page, leaving a question of who might step up in that spot.

On the women's side, Thunder Rosa vs. Kris Statlander, and Mercedes Moné vs, Julia Hart highlighted the first round.

Of the two brackets, the women's side is especially stacked while AEW is giving some interesting spotlights to fresh talent.

It looks like Moné vs. Athena will be a semifinals matchup, setting the stage for both to lose in the tournament ahead of a clash for the TBS Championship at All In.

Hangman vs. Ospreay is the likely final, especially with White taken out of the bracket. Either man winning would produce a huge match at All In.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

—It was announced that the tournaments would start at Dynasty with no immediate confirmation of which matches would happen at the PPV.

—Dax Harwood paid back Paul Turner directly for attacking him on Collision. Cash Wheeler refused to hug Dax, saying they had much to talk about.

—Swerve Strickland warned Jon Moxley that he would get him back before the end of the night.

—Interviewer Renee Paquette told The CEO she would face Julia Hart at Dynasty. While Moné wanted to focus on that, Harley Cameron arrived to try to talk strategy for their tag match on Collision against Hart and Athena.

Toni Storm vs. Penelope Ford

Penelope Ford fought hard against Toni Storm but was outmatched by the women's world champion. The Storm Zero put The Bad Girl away.

Megan Bayne came out afterward to stare down the champion but refused to meet her in the ring.

This was a predictable contest, but it still delivered. Ford looks better with each opportunity and brought her best to this battle.

She maximized her minutes and showed why she should keep getting big spotlights in the future.

Bayne has been perfectly established for this moment. She remains undefeated and has pinned the world champion.

It feels like either woman could walk out of Dynasty with the gold, and either option would continue to raise the level of competition in this women's division.

Result

Storm def. Ford by pinfall.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

—The commentary broke for a unique scene during the match as Storm bit the cheek of Ford.

—Excalibur ran down the newly announced schedule for AEW All In: Texas.

Bobby Lashley Refuses to Let MJF Into The Hurt Syndicate; Learning Tree Squash

MJF interrupted Bobby Lashley to say The Salt of the Earth in The Hurt Syndicate was good business. The All Mighty told him that the group did not need him.

MJF walked out after taking Lashley's words as a challenge. Big Bill and Brian Keith arrived to tell The Hurt Syndicate to take a seat for their match.

Big Bill made quick work of two local competitors, with Brian Keith motivating him. Bill then set a challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Championships at Dynasty.

This was another solid promo exchange between MJF and The Hurt Syndicate. The main surprise was that The Salt of the Earth was a little off his game.

That could have been intentional to sell that he is more intimidated by Lashley than he wanted to let on, but it did make MJF look lesser to the men he was speaking to for once.

The Learning Tree have picked up some quick momentum and should deliver a fun match against Lashley and Shelton Benjamin on Sunday to keep The Hurt Syndicate hot as tag champions.

Result

Bill and Keith def. local competitors by pinfall.

Grade

B-

Notable Moments

—Tony Schiavone repeatedly mocked MJF for testing Lashley.

—The Salt of the Earth announced that Benjamin had travel issues that led to him not making the show.

—MVP had something to say back to Big Bill, but Lashley cut him off and walked away.

Will Ospreay and Kevin Knight vs. Blake Christian and Lee Johnson

Will Ospreay started strong, but it was Kevin Knight who took over the action. He pulled out the win with a springboard lariat.

After the match, Tony Schiavone announced Ospreay vs. Knight at Dynasty as the first match of the men's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.

While it's unfortunate Jay White will not be able to compete in the tournament, the stage has been set for a breakout start by The Jet.

Few men allow for a better showcase match than Ospreay. The story of the contest will be how well Knight can keep up with arguably the best in the world.

He did well in his first AEW win, showing what could make him a special talent. After this match, the next goal will be to establish himself as a character.

Result

Knight and Ospreay def. Christian and Johnson by pinfall.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

—Ospreay and Knight could not figure out who they wanted to dive onto, so they crossed mid-dive for tope suicidas on both opponents.

—Knight dropkicked Johnson on Christian's shoulders, leading to Christian accidentally taking a poisonrana from his partner.

—Samoa Joe warned the locker room that The Opps would be watching Dynasty closely.

Brody King vs. Lance Archer

Despite the best efforts of Don Callis, Brody King survived Lance Archer and laid him out with a running lariat for the victory.

The "meat" division continues to deliver, even if it may not be official. King delivers like no one else when matched up against the biggest opponents.

He battled from underneath against Archer, who gave him his best fight. It was a great clash that set up The Hound as a possible threat to Konosuke Takeshita in the Owen.

If AEW wanted to fully commit to this rivalry and make it The Don Callis Family vs. The Hounds of Hell, that would be a welcome move to get King and Buddy Matthews on television every week.

Result

King def. Archer by pinfall.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

—Callis whispered some biting words to his impersonator in the crowd.

—The crowd enjoyed this battle of big men, chanting "Meat" and "Meat Forever."

—Archer ran the referee out of the ring after King kicked out of a chokeslam.

Cope vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Cope stayed strong in this battle with Claudio Castagnoli, who was ready to con-chair-to The Rated R Superstar.

Bryce Remsburg stopped him, and with the referee's back turned, Cope hit a low blow and a Spear to win.

Swerve Strickland marched backstage until "Hangman" Adam Page confronted him. The Mogul admitted "he deserved it" after calling out The Cowboy for burning down his house.

As Hangman walked away, Jon Moxley threw Swerve through glass. The Death Riders then dragged him to the ring and dropped him on glass. The Mogul stood up with glass in his back, defiant to the end.

This was a technically strong main event, but it just went too long. The pacing was flat and left little question Cope would win despite The Swiss Superman dominating.

It may have helped to get The Death Riders and FTR involved to sell the real focus of this feud: The Death Riders vs. Rated FTR.

The show made for it with an incredible visual to end the night. Mox took his best shot at Swerve, only for The Mogul to rise right back up.

It sold why Swerve may be the one man who can stop the AEW world champion's reign of terror.

Fans also got another small evolution with Hangman and Swerve as The Mogul admitted to his own fault in sending The Cowboy over the edge.

Result

Cope def. Castagnoli by pinfall.

Grade

C- (for the match); A (for the end segment)

Notable Moments

—The crowd continued the tradition of singing Metalingus beyond Cope's entrance music ending.

—Cope speared Castagnoli through the ropes off the apron to the floor. He then went for an outside dive but ran into a European uppercut.

—Cope hit a top rope bulldog where he landed on his feet in a scary bump for a man who fractured his tibia last year.

—The Swiss Superman planted Cope on the corner of the apron and then threw him over the barricade to set up a near-count-out.

—A European uppercut and Neutralizer still could not put away The Rated R Superstar, so the Swiss star got frustrated and grabbed two steel chairs.

Overall Show

For a go-home show ahead of Dynasty, this was a letdown. Even with Collision still to deliver the final build, Dynamite lacked the urgency of a PPV preview.

The two world title matches shined, but the rest of the card felt mostly forgotten.

Swerve Strickland and Willow Nightingale vs. Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir opened the night with a fantastic battle that set the stage for a brutal end to the night for The Mogul.

Toni Storm gave Penelope Ford a chance to shine before shutting her down and staring down with Megan Bayne one last time before Dynasty.

Both world title clashes feel unpredictable, and they should deliver in a big way.

The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament has had a great start, though its actual impact will be based on the matches delivered starting at Dynasty.

MJF was a bit off his game, but his story with The Hurt Syndicate is exciting, even if it is overshadowing the AEW World Tag Team Championships feud.

Cope is struggling to find his place in this new landscape of AEW, and it showed in a main event that could not keep up with the rest of the night.

Wednesday's Dynamite was mostly solid, but it wasn't the go-home show Dynasty needed given some of its rushed matches.

Grade: C+